{"paper_id":"57a28262-f100-495e-b4c2-b00d03860bbd","body_text":"Abstract\nPurpose: The present study evaluated the in vivo effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on the localization of immunoreactive transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and their common receptor (EGF-R) in the human endometrium.\nMethods: The study design was a randomized clinical trial enrolling 36 healthy women with regular menstrual cycles. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups: groups 1 (n = 11) and 2 (n = 17) received placebo and were submitted to endometrial biopsy during the proliferative and secretory phases of menstrual cycle, respectively; group 3 (n = 8) received MPA (10 mg/day) for 10 days followed by endometrial biopsy, which was performed during the secretory phase. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize TGFα, EGF, and EGF-R in the endometrial tissue.\nResults: TGFα was present markedly in the luminal and glandular epithelia but also in the periglandular stroma, with a distribution pattern similar in the three experimental groups. EGF immunostaing was equally distributed in epithelial and stromal layers of the endometrium and remained unchanged in endometrial samples from women treated with MPA compared to placebo. EGF-R was expressed only in the epithelium. The intensity of EGF-R immunostaining was higher in secretory than in proliferative endometrium and was further increased by administration of MPA (p < 0.05, chi-square test).\nConclusion: The present results suggest that the progestogen-induced in vivo differentiation of secretory endometrium does not require dramatic changes in the expression of EGF or TGFα, whereas EGF-R may be up regulated.\nSimilar content being viewed by others\nREFERENCES\nIrwin JC, Utian WH, Eckert RL: Sex steroids and growth factors differentially regulate the growth and differentiation of cultured human endometrial stromal cells. Endocrinology 1991;129:2385–2392\nHaining RE, Cameron IT, van Papendorp C, Davenport AP, Prentice A, Thomas EJ, Smith SK: Epidermal growth factor in human endometrium: Proliferative effects in culture and immunocytochemical localization in normal and endometriotic tissues. 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J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2002;87:5769–5777\nRoopa BA, Loganath A, Singh K: The effect of a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system on angiogenic growth factors in the endometrium. Hum Reprod 2003;18: 1809–1819\nAuthor information\nAuthors and Affiliations\nCorresponding author\nRights and permissions\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nReis, F.M., Lhullier, C., Edelweiss, M.I. et al. In Vivo Assessment of the Regulation of Transforming Growth Factor Alpha, Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), and EGF Receptor in the Human Endometrium by Medroxyprogesterone Acetate. J Assist Reprod Genet 22, 19–24 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-005-0816-x\nReceived:\nAccepted:\nIssue date:\nDOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-005-0816-x","source_license":"CC0","license_restricted":false}